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Asking Questions That Encourage Creative Thinking

Asking questions that encourage creative thinking

Consider the learning potential of simply shifting the way you ask your child questions…

“Can you see the rainbow in the sky?” versus “I wonder how does the rainbow get into the sky?”

“What is this part of the elephant called? (pointing to trunk)” versus “What would you do if you had a trunk?”

“Can you see it’s raining?” versus “How does the rain get into the sky?”

“What colour is this?” versus “What does this colour make you think of?”

“What type of dinosaur is this?” versus “Do dinosaurs have friends?”

“Can you see the bird flying in the sky?” versus “What would happen if you could fly?”

“Where do fish live?” versus “What do you think would be most exciting about living underwater?”

“What will we do tomorrow?” versus “How do you think tomorrow gets here, to where we are?”

“What is that noise?” versus “What would that noise look like if we tried to draw it?”

“Can you see the lizard?” versus “Why do you think lizards lie in the sun?”

“What colour is this (autumn) leaf?” versus”When the leaves change colour, how does the new colour get into the leaf?”

“Which of the balls floats?” versus “How does the ball float on top of the water?”

“Can you find the red wool?” versus “How many different ways could this wool be used?”

“What colour is that butterfly?” versus “How could we make a butterfly catcher?”

“How many snails can you see?” versus “How could we make a playground for a snail to play in?”

Good questions encourage children to think outside the square, to think and solve problems creatively.  And creative thinking is a problem solving skill that the employers of today (and tomorrow) are looking for.

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Time to Create by Christie Burnett

Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.

Read more of Christie's adventures at https://childhood101.com.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  2. Raising a Happy Child says

    August 11, 2010 at 5:46 PM

    I love it - what great ways to promote creative thinking. I have to try more of it at home.

  3. amandab says

    August 12, 2010 at 1:23 AM

    We do this when listening to classical music. "What do you think is happening now?" We get lots of wonderful stories, which one day I am hoping Princess will sit down and draw whilst I write them for her and we can make a little book :)

  4. SquiggleMum says

    August 12, 2010 at 4:52 AM

    I love the answers children give when we stop looking for the "right" answer and instead ask open ended questions.

  5. Cecilia says

    August 12, 2010 at 2:11 PM

    Thank you for posting this! Very helpful for me personally as we are used to ask closed ended questions.

  6. Kelly Coyle DiNorcia says

    August 13, 2010 at 5:08 PM

    This is a great post! It is so hard for me to not answer questions when they're asked, but to simply reflect the question back to see what my kids are thinking. We try to play games with it, too - like when we see an airplane we ask where do you think it's going? Do you think anyone we know is on that plane? You learn so much about your kids when you start asking the questions instead of answering them, though!

  7. Tricia at Mom is the Only Girl says

    August 13, 2010 at 6:09 PM

    Those things that inspire me, like this post, that I always forget when the opportunity arises! Love the reminder - Thanks!

  8. Pathfinder Mom says

    August 13, 2010 at 9:26 PM

    Thank you for posting this. It already made me stop and think today when we were out and about. How we phrase things is so important!

  9. Ash says

    August 15, 2010 at 11:56 AM

    I just love this post! I'm going to print it out and put it up to remind me to think of more exciting questions!

  10. Juliet Robertson says

    August 17, 2010 at 6:04 AM

    I don't think we ever be reminded enough about this. It's not an easy thing to do, but probably makes the biggest difference in terms of our relationship with our children, let alone the development of understanding and wisdom.

  11. SenseiMattKlein says

    August 25, 2010 at 1:18 PM

    Liked this post. Yes, open-ended questions are the best for creative thinking and for "breaking the ice".

  12. Kirrily says

    March 25, 2011 at 6:39 AM

    Christie, I could lose days of my life on your website. Sigh. This was awesome, I missed it last year. Printing it now to remind me to always be creative with my questions, as I so love hearing her imaginative answers. Thank you once again!

  14. Monica Mlenga says

    January 9, 2014 at 9:39 AM

    I just love the post,ill apply this yo ma creativity session with children in ma care

Trackbacks

  3. […] I am a big fan of encouraging children to be critical thinkers and used to lead groups in our network learning community many years ago. I was reading around this area last night to see what ideas I could generate for under 4's. I came across this which gives good examples of how you can turn your questioning around to make children actually think about a subject, thought I would share: Asking Questions That Encourage Creative Thinking | Childhood101 […]

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